Definitions

The first step in standardizing health information technology terms is to identify and categorize all known definitions. We're conducting a literature and organizational search for definitions and concurrently asking for organizations -- providers, healthcare IT product innovators, developers/vendors, payors, employers, consumer advocacy organizations, system integrators, academic centers, government, professional organizations and associations -- to submit definitions. Our task is to sort through the similarities and differences in the definitions, look for concept and language commonalities and to do an attribute comparison.

The deadline for submissions was November 2, 2007.

The terms currently available to be defined are:

• Electronic Health Record (EHR)
• Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
• Personal Health Record (PHR)
• Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO)
• Health Information Exchange (HIE)